Pension managed Funds very poor Performance

Fubsy

Can anybody help i have a personal pension with Scottish Widows The money i am paying in is nearly £1000 a month and this goes into 3 Scottish Widows managed funds

I accept that when Covid hit and the ugraine war this was outside the control pf SW however i have lost at least 30K and although i continue to pay in money the fund is staying fairly stati and therefore i am lossing aprox 1K a month ie the contributions

I am not a Finnancial wiz kid but put the money with Scottish Widows as being a big name

I feel as these are Scottish widows MANAGED Funds that they should have been moving around the market to mitigate any losses however i have just got of the phone and was told that they would not do anything

Therefore my question why do i pay a managemet fee when they dont manage the fund just administer

I feel the that the customers are being treated fairly

I understand that i could go to a financial manager at a large cost of aprox 4% of the fund

What is the fellow forum members view on this

I do appreciate that i am purchasing cheaper units at present and when the market picks up should level out

I await the forum views
 

Fubsy

ad customers are not being treated fairly

Marcon

Fubsy said:

Can anybody help i have a personal pension with Scottish Widows The money i am paying in is nearly £1000 a month and this goes into 3 Scottish Widows managed funds

I accept that when Covid hit and the ugraine war this was outside the control pf SW however i have lost at least 30K and although i continue to pay in money the fund is staying fairly stati and therefore i am lossing aprox 1K a month ie the contributions

I am not a Finnancial wiz kid but put the money with Scottish Widows as being a big name

I feel as these are Scottish widows MANAGED Funds that they should have been moving around the market to mitigate any losses however i have just got of the phone and was told that they would not do anything

Therefore my question why do i pay a managemet fee when they dont manage the fund just administer

I feel the that the customers are being treated fairly

I understand that i could go to a financial manager at a large cost of aprox 4% of the fund

What is the fellow forum members view on this

An actively managed fund is one where the fund managers take decisions about where to invest, as opposed to a passive fund, which normally tracks a particular index. 'Moving around the market to mitigate any losses' is unrealistic when the markets are so volatile/unpredictable - the managers will have considered their options and decided against doing so,  believing that keeping their current strategies will be the best option.

 Not sure what you mean by 'financial manager' but paying them a hefty fee is no guarantee of a better outcome.

Fubsy said:

I do appreciate that i am purchasing cheaper units at present and when the market picks up should level out

 

Precisely - it's just frustrating while you wait for it to happen!

Lorian

It may help if you say which 3 funds

Hoenir

Who chose the 3 funds and what are they? 

How is the ongoing £1k a month of new money being invested apportioned between them? 

Investing is a long term activity. Detach yourself from the noise that drives market volatility in the short term. While unsettling , a loss on paper , isn't a cash loss. Markets are not the real world economy. Since 1700, a recession has occurred on average every 5 and half years. The only aberration is the period of QE since the GFC of 2006 -2008. Many investors haven't known anything different that ever increasing asset values funded by cheap credit. Have faith that your investment manager is actually protecting you from the real downside risk of a permanent loss of capital. 

Linton

Lorian said:

It may help if you say which 3 funds

And if you tell us how much money you have invested - Losing £30K out of £100K justifies a specific explanation which we may be able to provide, losing £30K out of £600K is noise.

Notepad_Phil

Fubsy said:

...
I feel as these are Scottish widows MANAGED Funds that they should have been moving around the market to mitigate any losses however i have just got of the phone and was told that they would not do anything
...

Very few fund managers have the complete freedom to move their fund assets to anything/anywhere that they might wish to, they have to act within the restrictions of that fund's objectives. E.g. if you invest in a fund comprising a minimum of 40% bonds then that manager can't decide to sell up all the bonds and invest in a global equity fund.

My guess is that your funds have a highish amount of minimum bonds and that is what is dragging down your performance. Note, if stock markets collapse, then you may well come to welcome that amount of bonds.

Note, even if they did have the complete freedom, very few fund managers can consistently beat the market which is why many investors prefer passive funds over managed ones.

As per Lorian and Linton above, it may help to specify your funds and amounts.

Prism

My wife used Scottish Widows for her workplace pension. They have lots of funds. Some are doing well, others not so, but mostly in line with the general markets. What Scottish Widows do not do is move you between funds based on the markets, nor do the funds generally change what they invest in based on the markets. Most of them a pretty static and simply invest in what they say they will invest in.

Her SW pension is up about 7% over 1 year and 22% over 3 years but you might be invested in something quite different. We will need the exact fund names to help, although the answer is probably just going to be because thats how those funds have performed recently.

dunstonh

 The money i am paying in is nearly £1000 a month

This negative and volatile period is very good news for you then.   All those extra units you are buying with your money.

I accept that when Covid hit and the ugraine war this was outside the control pf SW however i have lost at least 30K and although i continue to pay in money the fund is staying fairly stati and therefore i am lossing aprox 1K a month ie the contributions

Or you are gaining them.    i.e. buying them whilst they are cheap and those units will make the most when it goes back up.
However, the fear of Covid is out of the equation. The direct impact of the Russian invasion is no longer an impact.   Inflation is the primary concern and that cycle is closer to the end than the beginning.

£30k needs to be in context.   Many people are hundreds of thousands of pounds down.  Some are only thousands but the percentages could be similar.

I am not a Finnancial wiz kid but put the money with Scottish Widows as being a big name

A big name but until a few weeks ago, it didnt have a decent product since about 2007

I feel as these are Scottish widows MANAGED Funds that they should have been moving around the market to mitigate any losses however i have just got of the phone and was told that they would not do anything

Funds will invest within their remit.  They cannot break their remit.    Its yours or your advisers choice to decide where and how you invest.  You selected a basic off-the-shelf solution with an investment that has acted in accordance with its remit.

Also, in 2022, virtually every market was down.  Many thought that gilts had hit their low point in July 2022 and it was a good time re-enter.   However, they have continued their worst performance in over 100 years until late.

You cannot predict the unpredicatable.

Therefore my question why do i pay a managemet fee when they dont manage the fund just administer

They are managing the funds within the remit.  You selected the funds (you don't mention an adviser).  So, you are getting the returns relative to the investments you selected.   SW administers the funds, but they are not your advisers.

I understand that i could go to a financial manager at a large cost of aprox 4% of the fund

Why 4%?     Its not that high unless you go to salesforces.

 What is the fellow forum members view on this

Your lack of knowledge is leading to not understanding what is going on and potentially leading you to bad decision making.  i.e. what 3 funds did you pick?    If they were suitable when you picked them then why are they not suitable now?    Why do you think a negative period is a bad thing, when actually its a good thing?

I do appreciate that i am purchasing cheaper units at present and when the market picks up should level out

So, why make the post if you understand that?

2000-2002 was three years of negativity. Far worse than now.   2008-2009 was the biggest negative period in the last 25 years.  Coronavirus was the third worst. 2015/16 and 2018 were typical crashes.   2022/23 was barely negative for the stockmarket but the biggest loss in gilts in over 100 years (after over a decade of some of the biggest gains - bubble upwards, burst downwards back to its long term average).

Negative periods are normal.  Some are quick and sharp.  Some are drawn out knife cuts going over multiple years.
All are good news for those paying in regularly.

Bostonerimus1

Fubsy said:

Can anybody help i have a personal pension with Scottish Widows The money i am paying in is nearly £1000 a month and this goes into 3 Scottish Widows managed funds

I accept that when Covid hit and the ugraine war this was outside the control pf SW however i have lost at least 30K and although i continue to pay in money the fund is staying fairly stati and therefore i am lossing aprox 1K a month ie the contributions

I am not a Finnancial wiz kid but put the money with Scottish Widows as being a big name

I feel as these are Scottish widows MANAGED Funds that they should have been moving around the market to mitigate any losses however i have just got of the phone and was told that they would not do anything

Therefore my question why do i pay a managemet fee when they dont manage the fund just administer

I feel the that the customers are being treated fairly

I understand that i could go to a financial manager at a large cost of aprox 4% of the fund

What is the fellow forum members view on this

I do appreciate that i am purchasing cheaper units at present and when the market picks up should level out

I await the forum views
 

You are screaming into the void right now; the void is your knowledge of your pension investments. So how much do you have in your pension, what funds is it in and how much are you being charged in fees? Knowing and understanding those things will help you to take some control of your finances and if you tell us those thing we can comment sensibly.